Monthly Newsletter

Military Strategy and Policy - Recent

Security strategy and policy are among the most important issues any state confronts, especially in a time of war. At SSI, research on these issues focuses on three primary areas: military and strategic theory; grand strategy; and the assessment and critique of critical national strategic documents:

New References from the Military Education Research Library Network

(10/16/06) Two new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: an article on revitalizing public diplomacy from the Heritage Foundation, and a monograph from the Strategic Studies Institute containing essays on the U.S. response to the strategic challenges it faces in the 21st century. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

(10/11/06) Three new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: articles from on a preemptive strategy for the 21st century, and on counterinsurgency strategies. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

(10/6/06) Four new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: a report from the Congressional Budget Office on military recruiting, a Congressional hearing on the Defense Department's irregular warfare map, a Congressional Research Service report on information operations and cyberwar, and a Council on Foreign Relations report on foreign investment and national security. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold.
(View it at NDU)

(10/4/06) Two new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: a RAND report on the importance of air power in counterinsurgencies, and a report from the Stanley Foundation on U.S. strategy in response to failing states. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

Added July 29, 2015

China’s emergence as a global actor has questioned the position of the United States as the strongest power and the future of the Washington-led global order. To achieve the status of a truly global player wielding influence in all dimensions of power would require China to leverage its regional influence in Central Asia.

Added July 29, 2015

This critical study examines the numerous barriers which serve to mitigate the spread of religious extremism and the formation of a local support base for Islamic terrorism in Kazakhstan. These factors, including historical, linguistic, cultural, religious, and social development, are considered in order to understand fully the driving factors in the evolution of Kazakhstan’s counterterrorist policy and the state’s ongoing efforts to restrict the growth of Islamic radicalization.

Added July 28, 2015

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army of 2025 is the 2014 edition of an ongoing series on the People’s Liberation Army co-published by the Strategic Studies Institute, the National Bureau of Asian Research, and the United States Pacific Command. This volume builds on previous volumes and identifies potential trajectories for PLA force modernization and mission focus, and how these potential changes could impact external actors.

Added July 22, 2015

Following the end of the Cold War, less attention has been paid to America’s allies, especially their “hard power” capabilities, despite the United States and its allies going to war more frequently than before. This volume addresses that gap, providing a holistic account of allied hard power and, in turn, the ability—and, indirectly, the willingness—of those same partners to use force independently or in concert with the United States and other allies.

Added June 29, 2015

Russia continues to oppose strenuously U.S. plans for missile defense in Europe, despite the fact that Russia itself seeks to develop comparable missile defense systems, that, by their own logic, would be equally destabilizing. This monograph reviews Russian plans and progress toward implementing them, to prepare the ground for inevitable future confrontation with Russia over the rollout of U.S. systems.

The wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan were lost almost before the first American shots were fired, not on the battlefield, but at the strategic level of war. This book explains why, and describes year-by-year, what will happen in Afghanistan from 2015 to 2019.

Added June 17, 2015

Although overshadowed by China, Russia's re-engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean, which includes military deployments, arms sales, and the negotiation of base access agreements, impacts the regional security environment and potentially challenges U.S. national security. This monograph provides one of the first broad, in depth analyses of Russian engagement in the region, including an examination of its political and economic, as well as military activities, with an examination of implications for the U.S. and recommendation for U.S. policymakers.

Added June 04, 2015

The global oil market in 2015 is not what it used to be. This Letort Paper explains why there are new winners and losers both inside the United States, as well as globally, and how to respond to challenges to the international oil industry.

Added June 03, 2015

The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has seen a resurgence of the Shia militias in Iraq and unprecedented prominence for the warlords who lead them. Given the presence of U.S. Landpower in Iraq as part of the fight against ISIS and the close links of some of the militias with Iran, understanding the militias’ role and capabilities is key for force protection and operational security, as well as for policy concerns.

Added May 29, 2015

Wars are won not by the state with the biggest war chest, but by the state with the key to opening it. This survey of the link between finance and war demonstrates the crucial importance an endless stream of money is for strategic success.

Added May 28, 2015

Authored by COL Gregory K. Anderson, COL Gert-Jan Kooij, LTC Karen L.T. Briggman, LTC Joseph E. Hilbert, Lt Col Christopher T. Lay, Dr. James C. McNaughton. Edited by Dr. John R. Deni.
Russian aggression in 2014 caught U.S. policy and strategy off guard, forcing reactive measures and
reevaluation of the U.S. approach toward Russia. Moscow employed nonlinear methodologies and
operated just beneath traditional thresholds of conflict to take full advantage of U.S. and NATO
policy and process limitations. In light of this strategic problem, the U.S. Army War College (US
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AWC), conducted a wargame that revealed four key considerations for future policy and strategy.

Added May 12, 2015

The possibility of P5+1 and Iran reaching a nuclear deal and benefits of a U.S.-Iranian strategic détente prompt an assessment of a U.S.-Iranian strategic relationship over the next 15 years. This work identifies three possible types of such relationship, providing recommendations for the United States, Iran, and their partners to cultivate and prepare for a strategic shift that such a revised relationship entails.

Added May 04, 2015

The Arab Spring has changed the region not only at the domestic level, it has set in motion a profound transition from how these regional states once related to each other to that of a new intra-regional dynamic. In diplomatic terms, it has entered a Gulf Moment, where regional decisions are now taken by the Gulf states themselves.

Added April 30, 2015

Stand Up and Fight is a collection of essays that explores how new National Security Organizations are stood up—that is, formed, organized, funded, and managed—in the first years of their existence. From Joint ventures to combatant commands to cabinet-level departments, each organization’s history reveals important themes and lessons for leaders to consider in forming a new organization.

Added April 15, 2015

During the past decade, China and Russia have deepened their defense cooperation to include a range of bilateral and multilateral military exercises. These have multiple purposes and the potential to evolve into a more significant security development in coming years.

This monograph argues that the design and effective implementation of peacemaking and peace/state-building policies require that the U.S. strategists are fully aware of what constitutes a security issue for social groups and individuals in third countries. Consequently, in order to create strong states in post-conflict situations, U.S. strategic planning and actions should be based on the adoption of the broaden definition of security as well as the idea of human security

Added April 03, 2015

To define future threat is, in a sense, an impossible task, yet it is one that must be done. The only sources of empirical evidence accessible are the past and the present; one cannot obtain understanding about the future from the future.

Added April 02, 2015

The post-revolution political elites in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia are struggling to strengthen their legitimacy in the eyes of the public, but their attempts to gather support for much-needed new political institutions and reforms have made limited progress. This monograph explains why and suggests what can be done to help.

Added April 01, 2015

Confidence-building measures among nations can establish trust, prevent misunderstandings, and establish stable conditions in the international system. In considering how to establish confidence-building measures in cyberspace, analysts can learn from past examples—including the establishment of weapons-based confidence-building measures in the areas of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, as well as in the Indo-Pakistan Conflict.

The 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and its ongoing war against Ukraine is
a turning point in its relations with Europe and the United States. Yet,
NATO and the United States are yet to offer a viable strategy on how it will
answer this emerging threat. Project 1704 takes a hard look at the changing
strategic environment in Europe and offers an approach to maintain stability
in Europe.

Added February 20, 2015

Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are urgently considering how best to optimize limited defense resources in the face of a newly assertive Russia. This monograph proposes enhanced defense cooperation, both regionally and with the United States, as a means to ensure the security of U.S. allies in a strategically vital region.

Added February 20, 2015

This monograph, completed ahead of the November 2014 deadline, examines some of the underlying factors which will be constant in dealing with a nuclear capable Iran under President Hassan Rouhani, and which will help determine the success or failure of talks in 2015.

Senior Conference 2014, the 50th iteration of the United States Military Academy (USMA) Senior Conference, explored emerging trends and their implications for the Army’s strategic contribution to national security.

Added February 03, 2015

How are the profound, even revolutionary changes in today’s global energy markets affecting U.S. national security and the U.S. military? Experts from academia, think tanks, the Pentagon, and the private sector address these and related questions in this timely, important edited volume.

Added January 30, 2015

The issue of how military resources should be reallocated after a military drawdown is not new. This monograph considers how this question was addressed in post-World War I Britain, and in the United States in the Post-Vietnam and Cold War environment, as well as making comparisons with the present environment.

Added January 23, 2015

Military cyberspace operations have been ongoing since before the advent of the Internet and their influence on traditional military operations continues to increase. What are the significant changes in mission and structure of Department of Defense offensive and defensive cyberspace activities over the past decade? How do joint and Army cyberspace military operations fit into the complex and dynamic sphere of daily network defense as well as international deterrence and escalation?

Added December 19, 2014

The tremendous economic and geostrategic significance of the East Mediterranean's newly discovered and potential future hydrocarbon resources also holds the potential for new grounds for conflict. The significance of these discoveries to the geopolitics of the East Mediterranean and Middle East Regions as well as potential U.S. strategic responses to these unfolding challenges is examined.

Added December 15, 2014

Counter Threat Finance strategies have the potential to be a multifaceted weapon both for the purpose of gathering intelligence and for direct action. This Paper highlights ways in which Counter Threat Finance strategies can be applied not only to effectively disrupt adversary activity, but also to stabilize local economies for the purpose of capturing hearts and minds, as well as to serve in advance as indicators and warnings of impending instability.

Added December 05, 2014

As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wane, an era of budget austerity emerges and the U.S. strategic focus shifts toward the Pacific, what role should LandPower play in American grand strategy? This volume offers an authoritative set of responses to this question from leading experts in international relations and security studies.

Added November 26, 2014

Despite over a decade of predominantly land warfare, American policymakers are unsure about the future relevance and utility of Landpower. An increasingly uncertain and ambiguous international security environment, combined with the complexities of modern warfare argues for greater clarification of what Landpower means in 21st century terms.

Added November 20, 2014

The U.S. global and regional role and capabilities will depend on how well it adjusts its grand strategy in response to current and projected trends in the era of rising powers. In this context, the rise of China, India, and the resurgence of Russia—all capable of challenging regional orders—calls for an engaged, long-term, and concerted U.S. global and regional strategy in Central Asia—the area that figures increasingly prominent in the grand strategies of the rising powers.

Despite talk about regional alignment, the Army has taken few concrete steps to prepare for this dramatic change. While enormous in its implications, the Army’s current regional alignment plan seems to be little more than directing units to “focus regionally” and aligning them with the appropriate combatant command.

Added November 18, 2014

Since many of the societies in which Al-Qaida, its affiliates, and offshoots operate have a significant tribal component, tribally-based militias may be a critical tool in fighting against Al-Qaida, because such militias can provide a cost-effective mechanism and serve as a force multiplier for U.S. Landpower. However, tribal militias are no panacea, but can be a two-edged sword and, like any weapon, has to be understood and wielded with caution and skill in order to avoid unintended consequences.

Added November 06, 2014

Ever since President Obama spotlighted nuclear terrorism as one of the top threats to international security, guarding and disposing of nuclear weapons-useable materials have become top international priorities.

This monograph explores the growing Islamist-secularist divide in Arab countries, particularly in Egypt and Tunisia, which has polarized such societies and often led to zero-sum politics. It offers recommendations for U.S. policymakers to maneuver through this divide while preserving U.S. interests and values.

Added October 28, 2014

What should the United States do about Afghanistan? After nearly 13 years and substantial U.S. national commitment, much has changed in Afghanistan, the United States, Afghanistan’s region, and the globe. This monograph answers six key questions for U.S. leaders regarding preparation of policy and strategy recommendations on Afghanistan.

Added October 16, 2014

Currently, there is no internationally accepted definition of when hostile actions in cyberspace are recognized as attacks, let alone acts of war. Although many of the challenges associated with this conundrum are common with those of the traditional domains (land, sea, and air), how should senior policymakers and decisionmakers address the unique vexations related to the complex and dynamic character of conflict in the cyberspace domain?

Added October 01, 2014

Military and security cooperation with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states is of continuing importance for the United States given the region's pivotal location in the Middle East and proximity to Iran. This monograph examines recent developments in the political and economic dynamics in GCC countries and their neighbors, and the potential implications for this cooperation.

Added September 11, 2014

The Arab Spring has returned Arab military forces and their necessity for reform to the forefront. Outside actors, such as the United States, are now asked to rethink their security assistance in broader terms, shifting toward comprehensive security sector reform. As several countries are facing large-scale security implosion, terrorism, politicization of the military and protracted instability, the time for reform was never more imminent than now.

Added September 09, 2014

Managing change in the international security environment—whether revolutionary or evolutionary in nature—is never an uncomplicated task. The authors address the military implications of political and social change in the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.

Added September 05, 2014

Within the context of the U.S.-India Strategic Relationship and in light of the vital national interests shared by both countries, what factors will contribute to the success of cross-sector collaborative initiatives intended to address challenges associated with sustainable development? What implications do those insights have for strategic leaders in different sectors?

Added September 03, 2014

President Xi Jinping's recent suggestion that a newly empowered China and the United States adopt a relationship that is new and different from previous relations between the great powers provides an ideal opportunity for the United States to consider its strategic options in the region.

Added August 26, 2014

A clear understanding of Russian strategic thinking and threat perception concerning the Caspian Sea is vital in order to facilitate effective U.S. policy in the wider Caucasus and Central Asian region.

Added August 08, 2014

Amid fiscal austerity and international crisis, should the United States seek to renew its global leadership, or retrench its geopolitical commitments? This volume brings historical and theoretical insights to bear on that question through a series of essays that examine the current debate as well as past episodes in which American leaders were confronted with similar choices.

Added August 06, 2014

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has the potential to obstruct U.S. policy aims in Central Asia, but also to facilitate them. However, both of these potentials are imperfectly understood. This monograph explains the SCO, and its real implications for U.S. policy toward both Central Asia and the SCO’s dominant partners, Russia and China.

Added July 25, 2014

Visual images have been a central component of propaganda for as long as propaganda has been produced. Terrorist groups, with very little initial investment, are making videos that are coming so close to the quality of BBC or CNN broadcasts that the difference is meaningless, and with access to the web, they have instantaneous access to a global audience.